


You put your arms around me, and I'm home

by blarkore



Category: Red Queen Series - Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Soulmates, boyfriends brother, cal/mare minor, elara is a bitch, mareven baby, maven is a sad boi, sorry cal, soul-marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 15:16:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20641292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blarkore/pseuds/blarkore
Summary: There was a boy. Tall, older, black hair, hazel eyes, he was popular and the guy every girl wanted. And he wanted her. It was a mystery as to why, but she figured they could hangout and see where it goes. This seemed like the start of something great, that is until she met his younger brother.Or; the story of a modern-day soulmate!mareven





	You put your arms around me, and I'm home

**Author's Note:**

> I just needed this okay...
> 
> They may be slightly OOC and i'm sorry for Cal
> 
> Oh well

Tonight, was the first night that she was going to hangout at Cal’s house. They had only been on three dates so far, and while she had fun and Cal seemed like a good guy, she wasn’t quite sure if meeting the family was a good idea. She wouldn’t even think to bring him to her house knowing Bree, Tramy and Shade would run him out immediately. But she thought this could be the start of a beautiful relationship, so she told him she would be happy to have dinner with his family.

She was almost done getting ready, and Cal told her he would pick her up from her house and drive her to his. After lots of teasing from her siblings, Cal getting some looks from her father, and her mother gushing over him, they were finally on their way.

“So, I feel like I should warn you, my dad isn’t the warmest at first and my step-mother is an absolute nightmare. My little brother is pretty cool, but he might be quiet the first few times you meet him.”

“How old is your brother again?” He had mentioned his brother a couple times in passing, but they don’t seem to be very close so she hadn’t heard many details.

“He’s your age actually. But his mother decided to homeschool him, so she could always keep an eye out.” Well, that was a surprise but the more she heard about this woman, Cal’s stepmother, she did not like her.

“Oh… Well I look forward to meeting him. If he is my age, maybe we’ll get along great.” She should’ve realized from the look on Cal’s face that she had no idea what she was getting into.

\--------

They finally get to his house, and as they walk in his father looks up from the newspaper and says a polite hello. He walks her into the kitchen, and she sees what possible is the most intimidating looking woman she’s ever seen. “You must be Mare? I’m Elara, Cal’s stepmom. You can call me Mrs. Calore.” And with that, she walks away. So yeah, not very friendly.

Suddenly, the most beautiful man she has ever seen (sorry Cal) walks down the stairs and makes eye contact with her. She realizes that its mildly inappropriate to be checking out her boyfriend’s (maybe boyfriend??) brother while meeting his family, but looking at his black hair, pale skin, and striking blue eyes she can hardly look away. Thankfully, he does it for her and he snaps his head down to the ground and murmurs a small, “I’m Maven. Nice to meet you.”

She can hardly form words with the butterflies in her stomach, and the wooziness in her head but she says, “It’s nice to meet you too. I’m Mare.” Years later, she will think of this as the moment that changed her entire life but right now all she can think is that she has never felt this way before for any boy. Especially not one she just met.

Now, she knows it seems insane, but soulmates are a very prevalent thing, and every person is born with a soul-mark and you just have to wait to find the only other person with the matching mark. She has never really given a thought that it could be Cal because she always heard stories of soulmates and how it’s this all-encompassing love that will take your breathe away. At least, that's what Shade said about his soulmate Farley. He told Mare, that he knew as soon as he saw her that she was special. Mare never felt that for Cal, but looking at Maven she wonders if this could be it.

Unfortunately, she is here for Cal and she can’t just go off asking his brother if he felt that too or what his soul-mark looks like. So, they sit down and have a very awkward and tense dinner. Cal’s father makes weird small talk, but it seems like he’s trying, Mrs. Calore sneers at everything Mare says, and while Cal is all chit-chat, Maven hardly says a word. She so badly wants to talk to him, to get to know him, but it seems as if every time he is about to say something, his mother turns her head his way and he immediately shuts down. She feels so sad for this beautiful boy she just met.

\--------

For the few weeks after, her and Cal hangout here and there and he seems to want to get more serious, but she just can’t get a certain blue-eyed boy out of her head. She thinks this would be a good time to end things with Cal, not wanting to hurt him or lead him on since her heart clearly isn’t in it. She is planning on talking to him the next time he comes over, but as she is on her way out of picking up some fabric for her little sister to use, she runs right into none other than Maven Calore.

He looks up at her and says, “Hey Mare, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there.” He seems to be a bit more open with his expressions, and maybe it’s because his mother isn’t around.

“It’s alright. What are you doing out here today?”

“I’m just picking up some coffee. The family is busy, so I wanted to get out and enjoy the day.”

She doesn’t know where the courage comes from, but she asks, “Do you mind if I join you? I was just out and about, and I could use some coffee.” A look passed across his face of shock, and maybe a little confusion like he doesn’t understand why she would want to be around him, and she thinks maybe she overstepped.

Then, a soft smile comes onto his face and he says, “I would love that.”

After they get their coffees, they find a secluded table in the corner and it’s awkward at first but all she can think is that this feels like more of a date than anything her and Cal ever did. They get to talking, and she finds they actually have a lot in common and they are getting along great. Until Cal is brought up.

“You and Cal are only two years apart right? Are you two close?” The look in his eyes told her enough.

“Um, no not really. We get along fine, but I think having different mothers has put a divide in between us since we were young.” It seems like there is more he wants to say but doesn’t and she won’t push him.

“What about your dad? He seems like a fairly nice guy.”

“My dad…is complicated. I think he misses Cal’s mom a lot and hasn’t been the same since she died. And sometimes it feels like he loves Cal more than me because he is what is left of Coriane.” And yeah, she gets feeling like the less loved sibling. Her parents have always seemed to be so proud of her brothers, and sister and anything she does, falls short. She tells Maven as much.

For a minute, they just look at eachother and it seems like they just understand. Like they share the same burdens. She feels an immense amount of trust, so she decides to vent even more, “It just gets lonely sometimes.” And the look in his eye is enough to make her feel on top of the world.

“Well, we’ve got eachother right? I mean, if you want… We could be friends or-“ He’s so flustered and adorable.

She cuts him off, “Yeah, we’ve got eachother now.” She reaches over and lays her hand on top of his and immediately feels a spark, like lightning. She knows he feels it too because he looks at their hands, then up to her, wide-eyed and grinning. She feels happy.

\--------

She does end up ending things with Cal the next week. She almost feels bad at the confused expression he has. He never did anything wrong, but she couldn’t go on with him knowing he isn’t the person she has feelings for. Although, she’s not sure she can tell him that either being that it’s his brother she has feelings for. So, she just says that he is a great guy, but she just isn’t feeling the relationship. He says he understands and goes on his way. 

\--------

After their little coffee outing, Maven gave her his number “in case she needs anything” and they have been texting on and off, so a few days after breaking up with Cal, she shoots him a text to tell him.

Mare: I broke up with Cal tonight.

Maven: What? Why? Are you okay?

And the fact that he seems concerned about her with this is so endearing, she just wants to ask him to come over and kiss her.

Mare: I’m okay. I just don’t think we were right for eachother, and he isn’t who I have feelings for.

Maven: Ohh. Well, I am sorry. I mean it didn’t make much sense to me since you are way cooler than him anyway ;)

Mare: Lol be nice. But I would like to get my mind off it, any chance you can sneak out?

Maven: Ummmm. I know just the place to help you. Give me 10 minutes and I’ll pick you up.

\--------

True to his word, she sees him pull up a little down the street so he doesn’t wake her parents up, and she gets outside and runs to his car.

“Hey Mave!” Admittedly, she is trying to be flirty and she likes the sound of the nickname coming from her mouth.

“Hey. You ready for the best night of your life?” He’s being cheeky, but if this goes her way, she thinks it really will be the best night of her life.

“I’m so ready, let’s get going.” So, he starts driving and a few minutes later they are going up a hill and stopping on a cliff that overlooks the city.

“Wait, you aren’t bringing me here to kill me, are you?” He laughs loud and freely, and she thinks she’d be okay with hearing just that the rest of her life.

“No, Mare I wouldn’t kill you. Who else is going to make me sneak out at midnight and drive them around?” 

“Okay okay. But really, Maven this place is beautiful. Do you come here often?”

“I come here to get away from my family mostly. When my mother is being too controlling or my father won’t even look at me since Cal is around.” Again, she can’t help but feel sad for him, so she wraps her hands around his arm, and lays her head on his shoulder.

“It’s peaceful, I love it.” She almost misses him looking down at her in awe, but as soon as she sees it, he looks away. And they sit for an hour just talking and enjoying each other’s company.

She has to work up the nerve but finally she says, “Maven?” and to his ‘hmm?’ she continues, “It’s you.” Now, he looks positively confused.

“What is me?”

“I told you that I broke up with Cal because he isn’t the person I have feelings for. It’s you, Mavey. I have feelings for you.”

He’s looking at her with stars in his eyes and says, “Mare, I-“ he hesitates and then, “We shouldn’t.” But even he doesn’t seem convinced by this, and so he cups her cheek and says, “I have feelings for you too, but this…”

Abruptly, he stops and it seems they both make a decision at this point. Then, he’s pulling her in, kissing her like no one ever has, and it’s all passion and love. She’s never felt this way before, but now she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to survive without it ever again.

Suddenly, she’s in his lap and their hands are all over, trying to be as close as they possibly can be, then she pulls away to take off her shirt, and his hands immediately find her skin and touch wherever they can. She never wants this moment to end, but something happens, and Maven pulls away. He is looking down to where her soul-mark is, and she blushes because it’s just a little white flower on her hip. Maybe he was reminded that somewhere out there, she has a soulmate that isn’t him, or maybe he’s her… No, she can’t let her thoughts go there. If he was, he wouldn’t be pulling away from her at this moment.

“Maven, is everything okay?”

He doesn’t even look at her as he says, “We should get you home, it’s late.” And now, she’s lost all hope and decides to go along with it. She mumbles a quiet ‘yeah’ and they are on their way.

When they pull up to her house, he looks at her, kisses her cheek softly and says, “Goodnight Mare.” It feels like a final goodbye.

\--------

That was two months ago, and he didn’t respond to her texts so she stopped sending them after the third day. She doesn’t know what happened, but what she does know is she has never felt more alone. She is sad and heartbroken because she really thought Maven was the boy she’d fall in love with. Hell, she was halfway there already.

As the days went on, the sadness turned into anger because didn’t she at least deserve an explanation? This kind of thinking is what had her going to the coffee shop, waiting for him to show up one day. Finally, it happens. He walks in, gets a coffee, and turns to look at ‘their’ table, but stops when he sees her and walks right out. She isn’t going to make this easy for him though, so she follows.

“Maven! Maven, stop! Can we please talk?”

He turns around and says, “About what? It was a mistake Mare. I thought not replying to you made that clear.” This would’ve hurt worse if she didn’t see right through it. She could see the lie in his eyes.

“I know you are lying. I know you felt what I did. You have feelings for me, Mave and now you’re just ignoring it. I want an explanation!” He looks around, realizing they are turning more than a few heads their way and pulls her to his car.

“Okay, we can talk. But somewhere private.” He drives them to the cliff overview again, and she’s hit with all kinds of emotions.

She doesn’t know how to start this, so she waits, and it seems Maven is collecting his thoughts and trying to figure out what to say and then, “I saw your soul-mark.” She knew this obviously, but that doesn’t explain why he ran away after seeing it.

“Okay? And what? You don’t have feelings for me now because I have a soulmate out there? Plenty of people don’t even meet their soulmate! Why did that make you run away?”

He shakes his head, “It’s not because someone else is your soulmate, it’s….” he doesn’t continue, just turns to her, and pulls his shirt up. There it is. His soul-mark. A white flower on his hip, the perfect match to hers.

Maven Calore is her soulmate.

But wait…, "If you are my soulmate, why did you run? This is good, we are literally meant to be together, Mave.”

“Coriane was my father’s soulmate. And he lost her. He has never been the same, and I know deep down he probably loves my mother, but it’s not the same and it never will be. He lost the love of his life, his soulmate, and he will never fully recover.” At that, she realizes he is scared. Her heart warms at the thought that he doesn’t want to lose her. She doesn’t want to lose him either.

“You won’t lose me. I am here, and I-I love you. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“You can’t guarantee that, Mare. Things happen every day and you…” his voice croaks and it seems painful to even try to speak the words, “You dying would be unbearable. I’m not my father and I would never love again. I would never move on in the slightest. Losing you would be the end of me, baby.”

“Don’t you think we owe ourselves the happiness of a life together? No matter what happens, spending a life with you would be worth it.”

“I want that too. I just- I’m just scared. I want to try though because I love you too. I just- I can’t promise that fear will ever go away completely.”

“I understand, I am scared to lose you too. But we live one day at a time, and we build this life together. I want to be with you.”

“Okay. Let’s do this then.” And he pulls her in for a sweet and loving kiss. On the way back, she can hardly keep the smile off her face, and she turns to look and him and he is grinning as well. Yeah, she could get used to this.

\--------

And years later, she wakes up to a “Daddy!! Mommy!! Wake up!”

She pulls their three-year-old daughter into their bed, and wraps her arm around her husband. Maven, still half asleep, puts his arm over his wife and daughter and kisses both of their heads. 

It still feels like a dream. This life with her soulmate. There are still days when it gets hard, and days when the fear of losing eachother comes back with a vengeance, but mostly they are happy. She has everything she ever wanted, and she would never change it for anything.

FIN.


End file.
